Stalking in the Shadows
by ShadowClan7
Summary: A long time ago, when the five Clans were first created, there was much talk about them, and one cat in particular heard about them. He decided to make his own Clan, which he would call BloodClan. He gathered up the most blood thirsty cats he could and formed his Clan. Now, lifetimes have passed and the Clans are threatened by BloodClan. Can they survive the first BloodClan attack?
1. Prologue

Prologue

It was dark in the Twolegplace. All was quiet, except for the soft pad of pawsteps along the rough brick. A dark brown tabby slipped out of the shadows, stalking along the silent roads. He was followed by another cat; A light gray tom. They both crept silently down the streets, taking various twists and turns. The gray cat kept glancing over his shoulder, as if worried that someone else was following. The tabby halted suddenly.

"We are here," he meowed. "Now all we have to do is wait." He sat down, though the gray cat remained standing, ears pricked for danger. For what seemed like moons, these cats remained in their positions, unmoving. Then, as it they sensed something, they both turned toward a dark alleyway at the same time, the tabby standing up.

"Stalk," meowed the tabby in greeting. A jet black tom with one white splotch on his tail slipped out of the alley.

"Greetings, Clawscar," he growled. "I hope you don't mind, but I have also brought my deputy to meet you." He flicked his tail, and a dark gray tom with thistle-like fur stalked out shadows. The tom nodded his head to Clawscar in respect.

"This is Ash," meowed Stalk. "He is my," Stalk hesitated for a moment, "deputy."

"Really?" asked Clawscar. "I wasn't aware that BloodClan had a deputy." He narrowed his eyes. "But that's not why I'm here."

"I know why you're here," Stalk said, smirking. "You need my help, don't you?"

"One of my warriors, Stoneheart," he flicked his tail at the light gray tom, "will explain our... situation to you."

Stoneheart stepped forward, looking nervous, but determined all the same.

"In order to take over all five Clans," he began, "we need to be able to overpower them. We need you to help us. First we'd go for the leaders and the deputies, then the medicine cat. The Clans won't know what hit them."

Stalk smiled. "You seem to think that we have already agreed."

"Of course," growled Clawscar, stepping up as if he had rehearsed this. "You don't have a choice."

"Oh we always have a choice, Clawscar," meowed Stalk, silkily. Out of nowhere, he lunged at Stoneheart.

"No!" screeched Clawscar as Stalk clawed at Stoneheart's neck. Just as he was about to leap to Stoneheart's defense, Ash went barreling into him, pinning him down.

Clawscar watched in horror as Stalk tore Stoneheart apart, bit by bit. When Ash finally released him, Stoneheart's eyes had rolled up and had grown puffy. He was covered in so many scars that he was barely recognizable. Clawscar was frozen in his spot, looking at the remains of his faithful warrior.

"Just remember," growled Stalk, "we always have a choice. Get all the Clans out of the forest by the full moon after the next, or you will all suffer whatever my warriors have to give to you." And with that, he slipped into she shadows.


	2. Chapter 1: Grief and Anger

Chapter One: Grief and Anger

A yowling outside the Apprentices' Den woke Echopaw from her sleep. 'What is going on?' she thought, slipping out of her den. There was a huge crowd near the ShadowClan medicine den, blocking her view, until a pale ginger warrior named Sandpelt moved out of the way just enough for Echopaw to see, despite the thick rain, what everyone was crowding around. It was only a flash, but it had been enough for her to see the dead body of Stoneheart.

Echopaw was frozen in horror. Rain soaked through her pelt, getting her wet, but she didn't care. Wingflight, her mentor, turned around and noticed Echopaw for the first time. She started to walk forward, but Echopaw turned around and dashed out of the camp. She didn't watch where she was going as she raced through the trees. No one had bothered to come and get her; to tell her that her father was _dead_! It slammed on her fast, the scent marks, and she stopped just heartbeats before she crossed the ThunderClan border. Her paws had brought her to here, but why?

"You're out late tonight, aren't you?"

Echopaw jumped at the sudden sound of the voice. She would have greeted the speaker, except the voice was coming from the ThunderClan side of the border. A brown tabby climbed down a tree and walked over to the border.

"And you're not?" growled Echopaw. This was a ThunderClan cat. She couldn't trust him; but yet there was something about him that Echopaw was drawn to. The cat smirked.

"No need to be aggressive," he meowed evenly. "I'm only pointing something out." When Echopaw didn't reply, he added, "My name's Tanglepaw, by the way. What's yours?"

"Echopaw," she said, flatly. "Why are you out so late? Shouldn't you be in your den?"

Tanglepaw gave her a look that clearly said, 'What about you?' but he answered all the same. "Felt the need for a walk. My paws brought me here. You?"

Echopaw hesitated. If she told him what had really happened, it would make ShadowClan sound weak. "Hunting," she meowed, simply.

Tanglepaw narrowed his eyes, noticing her hesitation. "Hunting? What have you caught so far?"

"None of your business," Echopaw snapped back; but Tanglepaw just smirked.

"Echopaw!"meowed the voice of Wingflight, surprisingly nearby.

"I have to go," Echopaw meowed. She turned around and raced toward Wingflight's voice before Tanglepaw could answer. Forgetting all her anger, Echopaw ran through the woods, following her mentor's voice before accidentally crashing into her. Echopaw fell onto her side from the force of the impact, but her head was still throbbing. Wingflight was the first to recover.

"Echopaw, where have you been?" she meowed. "I've been looking for you everywhere!" Echopaw looked at her paws. She hadn't meant to worry her mentor. She had just been too upset about the death of Stoneheart to worry about it.

"You can't just go running off like that," said Wingflight, sternly. "You could have run into a fox, or a badger, or a Twoleg!"

"But how many times does that actually happen?" asked Echopaw. She had gone out of camp tons of times, and hadn't run into a creature like that once!

"What do you think happened to Stoneheart?" Wingflight asked, softly. Echopaw stared while Wingflight continued, "Clawscar brought him back into camp like that. He said that they had been hunting together when they had run into a badger on our territory! It may still be out here!"

Echopaw hung her head. After a moment of silence, Wingflight meowed, "Come on. Let's get you back to camp."


	3. Chapter 2: Plans for the Gathering

Chapter Two: Plans for the Gathering

The next day, Echopaw was awoken by Wingflight.

"Come on," her mentor meowed. "It's already Sunhigh! We have to get _some _training in before the Gathering!" Echopaw looked up groggily.

"But I was up late last night," she complained, "and my father…"

"Just because your father died does not give you any right to not provide for the Clan," Wingflight interrupted her. "If anything, you should be more eager to provide for your Clan now that they're the only thing you have left."

Echopaw hung her head. It made sense, but she was still bitter about losing the last member of her family. Her mother had died giving birth to her, and so had her two other kits. Echopaw stretched and padded out of the Apprentices' Den.

"So, what are we doing today?" she asked her mentor, determined to make up for her behavior.

"Hunting," meowed Wingflight. "Where do you think we should go first?" Echopaw thought for a moment.

"The ThunderClan border," she decided finally. She wanted to make sure that Tanglepaw had stayed in his territory. There was another thought nagging the back of her brain, but she ignored it.

"Good idea," said Wingflight. "No one's been hunting there for a few sunrises. There should be plenty of prey. It is New- Leaf after all."

They walked the same route that Echopaw had taken yesterday to get to the Thunderpath. When they finally got there, Echopaw took a good sniff. No ThunderClan scent.

'Good,' she thought. 'He hasn't been here since last night.' So why did Echopaw feel so disappointed? She pushed away the thought. She wasn't disappointed! She was actually glad that she didn't have to see that arrogant mouse- chaser again!

"Echopaw, are you paying attention?" Wingflight asked. When Echopaw didn't say anything, Wingflight added, "Perhaps you'd like to repeat to me what I just told you." Echopaw tried to recall Wingflight saying something, but she just couldn't.

Wingflight sighed in exasperation. "I said that you can here and that I'll hunt farther along the Thunderpath. Just don't get to close! Monsters can come out of nowhere right when you least expect it."

"Okay," meowed Echopaw determinedly. So much for making up for her bad mood. Nothing would distract her from catching as much fresh kill as she could! As Wingflight walked away, Echopaw noticed a plump toad hopping along the marshy grass. Instantly she got down wing from it, so that it wouldn't smell her. She started to creep up on it, silent as a snake. It didn't notice her until she was three mouse lengths away from it, but by then it was too late.

Echopaw pounced onto the toad and swiftly bit it on the neck.

"Good catch," said a voice from behind her. She turned around to see Tanglepaw looking at her from across the border.

"Do you want something?" asked Echopaw, fiercely but calmly. She wasn't going to let this arrogant tom get the best of her again.

"Nope," said Tanglepaw as if there was nothing more to be said. The nerve of that cat!

"Then why are you here?"

"I actually do need something from you," he meowed. "I need you to meet me in the back of the Fourtrees during the Gathering. I have something I need to tell you in a place that's more," he hesitated for a moment, "private."

Echopaw thought for a moment. She told herself that she couldn't trust this tom. But somewhere deep inside of her…

"Okay," she said finally.


	4. Chapter 3: At the Gathering

Chapter Three: At the Gathering

Echopaw tried to concentrate on hunting the rest of the morning, but her mind kept wandering back to Tanglepaw. Now that she thought back to their meeting by the Thunderpath, his voice had seemed more urgent than anything else. Echopaw couldn't work out what that meant.

By Sunhigh, all Echopaw had caught was the two lizards, the toad from earlier, and a lucky mouse. As a result, a stern Wingflight sent her back out again. This time, she was determined to catch enough fresh kill to feed the Clan. When she finally decided that she had enough fresh kill, she headed back to camp to get something to eat.

"Well done, Echopaw," meowed Wingflight from behind her.

"Thanks," purred Echopaw, pleased with herself. She had defiantly made up for her lousy hunting earlier. Wingflight smiled.

"You've done so well that I think I'll have enough time to ask Racingstar if you can go to the Gathering tonight," she meowed cheerfully. Echopaw's belly did a flip. _The Gathering! _She had forgotten all about Tanglepaw's preposition to meet her at the Fourtrees. For a moment, Echopaw started to have second thoughts about going to the Gathering. 'No! I promised,' she thought. She picked up a plump toad from the pile and started eating. She finished just before Racingstar slipped out of his den, with Roaringpath at his side, and walked over to the enterance of the camp.

"Wildtail, Scarpelt, Clawscar, Mintleaf, Wingflight, and Echopaw," he called, "You'll come to the Gathering with Roaringpath and I." Echopaw started shaking as Racingstar called her name. Wingflight leaned over to her.

"You okay?" she whispered in Echopaw's ear. Echopaw nodded and stared determinedly straight ahead. She kept shaking all the way to the Fourtrees, but when ShadowClan arrived, the shaking suddenly stopped! With a flick of his tail, Racingstar lead the Clan down into the clearing, where the cats instantly began to break up into separate groups and combine with cats from other Clans. Echopaw quickly slipped into the back to see Tanglepaw and two other cats waiting for her. Her stomach started leaping again.

"Echopaw, this is Blackpaw of WindClan," meowed Tanglepaw, flicking his tail at a jet black tom with dark gray eyes, "and Oakpaw of SkyClan," he continued, this time nodding his head at a light tabby tom with random dark stripes all over his body. Echopaw nodded her head to both cats.

"Now the only cat we're waiting on is Lakepaw," meowed Blackpaw, licking his fur.

"You won't have to wait long," said Oakpaw calmly. "RiverClan just arrived." And so they had. RiverClan cats were pouring into the clearing, just as the ShadowClan cats had done moments before. Echopaw spotted a single individual making their way through the crowd of cats toward them.

"Hi," meowed the sleek, blue-gray she-cat. "I'm Lakepaw."

"Echopaw."

"So, we should probably get right down to business before the leaders start," meowed Tanglepaw quickly. He turned to Echopaw and said straight out, "Stoneheart was in our territory last night." Echopaw narrowed her eyes.

"Stoneheart would never do that," she meowed. "He's a loyal ShadowClan warrior, who follows the warrior code!"

"Not based on what we saw last night," said Lakepaw cautiously, as if she there was something that she wasn't looking forward to telling.

"We?"

"He was on ThunderClan, RiverClan, and SkyClan land last night, Echopaw," Tanglepaw explained quickly. "He cut through our territories on his way to the Twolegplace. We all followed him."

Echopaw stared at him with shock. "You must have mistaken him for someone else."

"Clawscar certainly seemed to think it was him," meowed Oakpaw. "He was there too…"

"We'll talk about this later," interrupted Tanglepaw. "The point is, there is a Clan in the Twolegplace, who somehow got really strong without warrior training, named BloodClan." Echopaw shivered at the horrible name while Tanglepaw continued. "A cat from BloodClan, I think the leader, killed Stoneheart and told Clawscar that he had to get all the Clans out of here by the next full moon, or he tear us all apart!" Okay, Echopaw had not expected that.

"Do we tell our leaders?" she asked. Tanglepaw shook his head.

"That would only make matters worse. They would panic and all choose sides or something. It's always something with leaders. No, we're going to take care of BloodClan ourselves, one apprentice from each Clan!"

"Yea right," meowed Echopaw, shooting a disbelieving look at Tanglepaw. "We'd be torn to shreds!"

"We've got to try," meowed Lakepaw determinedly. "Are you with us or not?" There really was only one choice to Echopaw.


End file.
